February 19, 2016

Here we are - February 2016 will soon be in the books and Spring is less than a month away. The sun's getting higher in the sky, daylight hangs around till after six PM here in the Northeast and winter's grip on us is slipping away like a man clinging to a ledge. Go outside, face the south and breath deeply. No charge for this anti-depressant!

Now, let's talk more about why it makes sense to buy American and why the answer to America's economic woes are most certainly within our power as individual consumers to turn around. But, it's going to take a commitment - and not even a large one - you can even keep your Toyota. In fact, foreign cars have actually made Detroit products better because US car makers have had to keep up with Japanese and German quality to the extent that domestic autos are nearly on par with them. The Big Three have responded to the competition - and the results are beautiful and reliable.

That commitment? Oh yeah, here it is: Resolve to spend one hundred dollars this year on products made in America by Americans. According to an ABC News report, if each of us would spend about four more dollars per year on USA made products, it would create 10,000 new jobs. The average person spends about 700 bucks a year on gifts alone, so if he/she would spend just 1/7th of that on American products...well, like my high school algebra teacher would say, "It's somethin' big!" I'm talking manufacturing jobs. Jobs that earn a living wage. Jobs that you can raise a family on. Want to stop this sickening trend of America becoming a service based economy? This is the answer. And, it is all within our power to do it! According to The New York Times, more American manufacturing jobs will not only reduce the unemployment rate (Duh..), but also pour more money into the tax base to pay for benefits like Medicare and Social Security. And, if you do buy that new Detroit made car or truck, even more jobs will actually follow. The Center for Automotive Research estimates that for every new job in auto manufacturing, nine more are created in everything from replacement parts to dry cleaning. Now that's something you can hang your lunch bucket on! We don't need some shifty politician promising to make our economy strong again or to give us free stuff (which we all know is not free...tax payers bought it) - we can fix this ourselves. It just takes a little discipline. Corporate America is working to make it easier to buy domestic made products, too. Why wouldn't they? The majority of shoppers, when given the opportunity, would rather buy American - even if it means paying a little more. Even Walmart has a campaign to attract American companies selling American made products because their customers are starting to demand it. Yep, that's right, Walmart.

Next time we'll talk about how buying American helps us and our world in ways that you may not have thought of.

So long for now, leather lovers!

Greg

Leave a comment

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Sign Up for our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter and always be the first to hear about what is happening.